Wednesday 29 January 2020
Wednesday of week 3 in Ordinary Time
Office of Readings
Introduction (without Invitatory)
If this is the first Hour that you are reciting today, use the version with the Invitatory Psalm instead.
O God, come to our aid.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen. Alleluia.
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Hymn
Bright as fire in darkness,
Sharper than a sword,
Lives throughout the ages
God’s eternal word.
Father, Son and Spirit,
Trinity of might,
Compassed in your glory,
Give the world your light.
Stanbrook Abbey Hymnal
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Psalm 88 (89)
The Lord's kindness to the house of David
“God has raised up one from the house of David, as he promised: Jesus the Saviour” (Acts 13:22,23).
Love and truth walk in your presence, Lord.
I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord;
through all ages my mouth will proclaim your truth.
Of this I am sure, that your love lasts for ever,
that your truth is firmly established as the heavens.
‘With my chosen one I have made a covenant;
I have sworn to David my servant:
I will establish your dynasty for ever
and set up your throne through all ages.’
The heavens proclaim your wonders, O Lord;
the assembly of your holy ones proclaims your truth.
For who in the skies can compare with the Lord
or who is like the Lord among the sons of God?
A God to be feared in the council of the holy ones,
great and dreadful to all around him.
O Lord God of hosts, who is your equal?
You are mighty, O Lord, and truth is your garment.
It is you who rule the sea in its pride;
it is you who still the surging of its waves.
It is you who trod Rahab underfoot like a corpse,
scattering your foes with your mighty arm.
The heavens are yours, the world is yours.
It is you who founded the earth and all it holds;
it is you who created the North and the South.
Tabor and Hermon shout with joy at your name.
Yours is a mighty arm, O Lord;
your hand is strong, your right hand ready.
Justice and right are the pillars of your throne,
love and truth walk in your presence.
Happy the people who acclaim such a king,
who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face,
who find their joy every day in your name,
who make your justice the source of their bliss.
For you, O Lord, are the glory of their strength;
by your favour it is that our might is exalted;
for our ruler is in the keeping of the Lord;
our king in the keeping of the Holy One of Israel.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
Love and truth walk in your presence, Lord.
________
Psalm 88 (89)
The Son of God was born into the house of David when he came into this world.
Of old you spoke in a vision.
To your friends the prophets you said:
‘I have set the crown on a warrior,
I have exalted one chosen from the people.
‘I have found David my servant
and with my holy oil anointed him.
My hand shall always be with him
and my arm shall make him strong.
‘The enemy shall never outwit him
nor the evil man oppress him.
I will beat down his foes before him
and smite those who hate him.
‘My truth and my love shall be with him;
by my name his might shall be exalted.
I will stretch out his hand to the Sea
and his right hand as far as the River.
‘He will say to me: “You are my father,
my God, the rock who saves me.”
And I will make him my first-born,
the highest of the kings of the earth.
‘I will keep my love for him always;
with him my covenant shall last.
I will establish his dynasty for ever,
make his throne endure as the heavens.’
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
The Son of God was born into the house of David when he came into this world.
________
Psalm 88 (89)
Once for all, I have sworn to David my servant: his dynasty shall last for ever.
‘If his sons forsake my law
and refuse to walk as I decree
and if ever they violate my statutes,
refusing to keep my commands;
‘then I will punish their offences with the rod,
then I will scourge them on account of their guilt.
But I will never take back my love,
my truth will never fail.
‘I will never violate my covenant
nor go back on the word I have spoken.
Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness.
“I will never lie to David.
‘“His dynasty shall last for ever.
In my sight his throne is like the sun;
like the moon, it shall endure for ever,
a faithful witness in the skies.”’
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
Once for all, I have sworn to David my servant: his dynasty shall last for ever.
Psalm-prayer
Lord, God of mercy and fidelity, you made a new and lasting pact with men and sealed it in the blood of your Son. Forgive the folly of our disloyalty and make us keep your commandments, so that in your new covenant we may be witnesses and heralds of your faithfulness and love on earth, and sharers of your glory in heaven.
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℣. The unfolding of your word gives light.
℟. It teaches the simple.
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First Reading
Deuteronomy 29:1-5,9-28
Curses on the breakers of the covenant
Moses called the whole of Israel together and said to them:
You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, to his servants and to his whole land, the great ordeals your own eyes witnessed, the signs and those great wonders. But until today the Lord has given you no heart to understand, no eyes to see, no ears to hear.
For forty years I led you in the wilderness; the clothes on your back did not wear out and your sandals did not wear off your feet. You had no bread to eat, you drank no wine, no strong drink, learning thus that I, the Lord, am your God.
All of you stand here today in the presence of the Lord your God: your heads of tribes, your elders, your scribes, all the men of Israel, with your children and your wives (and the stranger too who is in your camp, whether he cuts wood or draws water for you), and you are about to enter into the covenant of the Lord your God, a covenant ratified with dire sanctions, which he has made with you today, and by which, today, he makes a nation of you and he himself becomes a God to you, as he has promised and as he has sworn to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Not with you alone do I make this covenant today and pronounce these sanctions, but with him also who is not here today, as well as with him who stands with us here in the presence of the Lord our God.
Yes, you know those among whom we lived in Egypt, those through whose lands we journeyed, the nations through whom we have passed. You have seen their abominations and their idols, the wood, the stone, the silver and gold they have in their countries.
Let there be no man or woman among you, no clan or tribe, whose heart turns away from the Lord your God today to go and serve the gods of those nations. Let there be no root among you bearing fruit that is poisonous and bitter. If, after hearing these sanctions, such a man should bless himself in his heart and say, “I may follow the dictates of my own heart and still lack nothing; much water drives away thirst,” the Lord will not pardon him. The wrath and jealousy of the Lord will blaze against such a man; every curse written in this book will fall on him, and the Lord will blot out his name from under heaven. The Lord will single him out from all the tribes of Israel to his destruction, in accordance with all the curses of the covenant written in the Book of this Law.
The future generation, your children who are to come after you, as also the stranger from a distant country, will see the plagues of that land and the diseases the Lord will inflict on it, and will exclaim, “Sulphur, salt, scorched earth, the whole land through! No one will sow, nothing grow, no grass spring ever again. Like this, Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger and his wrath.” And all the nations will exclaim, “Why has the Lord treated this land like this? Why this great blaze of anger?” And people will say, “Because they deserted the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt; because they went and served other gods and worshipped them, gods they had not known, gods that were no part of their heritage from him, for this the anger of the Lord has blazed against this land, bringing on it all the curses written in this book. In anger, in fury, in fierce wrath the Lord has torn them from their country and flung them into another land where they are today.”
Things hidden belong to the Lord our God but things revealed are ours and our children’s for all time, so that we may observe all the words of this Law.
Responsory
Ga 3:13-14; cf. Dt 8:14
℟. Christ was accursed for our sake so that the blessing of Abraham might include the pagans,* so that through faith we might receive the promised Spirit.
℣. God brought us out of the land of Egypt; he delivered us from the house of slavery,* so that through faith we might receive the promised Spirit.
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Second Reading
From a sermon on the Song of Songs by St Bernard of Clairvaux
Where sin abounded grace has overflowed
Where can the weak find a place of firm security and peace, except in the wounds of the Saviour? Indeed, the more secure is my place there, the more he can do to help me. The world rages, the flesh is heavy, and the devil lays his snares, but I do not fall, for my feet are planted on firm rock. I may have sinned gravely. My conscience would be distressed, but it would not be in turmoil, for I would recall the wounds of the Lord: he was wounded for our iniquities. What sin is there so deadly that it cannot be pardoned by the death of Christ? And so if I bear in mind this strong, effective remedy, I can never again be terrified by the malignancy of sin.
Surely the man who said: My sin is too great to merit pardon, was wrong. He was speaking as though he were not a member of Christ and had no share in his merits, so that he could claim them as his own, as a member of the body can claim what belongs to the head. As for me, what can I appropriate that I lack from the heart of the Lord who abounds in mercy? They pierced his hands and feet and opened his side with a spear. Through the openings of these wounds I may drink honey from the rock and oil from the hardest stone: that is, I may taste and see that the Lord is sweet.
He was thinking thoughts of peace, and I did not know it, for who knows the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counsellor? But the piercing nail has become a key to unlock the door, that I may see the good will of the Lord. And what can I see as I look through the hole? Both the nail and the wound cry out that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. The sword pierced his soul and came close to his heart, so that he might be able to feel compassion for me in my weaknesses.
Through these sacred wounds we can see the secret of his heart, the great mystery of love, the sincerity of his mercy with which he visited us from on high. Where have your love, your mercy, your compassion shone out more luminously than in your wounds, sweet, gentle Lord of mercy? More mercy than this no one has than that he lay down his life for those who are doomed to death.
My merit comes from his mercy; for I do not lack merit so long as he does not lack pity. And if the Lord’s mercies are many, then I am rich in merits. For even if I am aware of many sins, what does it matter? Where sin abounded grace has overflowed. And if the Lord’s mercies are from all ages for ever, I too will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever. Will I not sing of my own righteousness? No, Lord, I shall be mindful only of your justice. Yet that too is my own; for God has made you my righteousness.
Responsory
℟. He was pierced through for our faults, crushed for our sins. On him lies a punishment that brings us peace:* through his wounds we are healed.
℣. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.* Through his wounds we are healed.
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Let us pray.
All-powerful, ever-living God,
direct our steps in the way of your love,
so that our whole life may be fragrant
with all we do in the name of Jesus, your beloved Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
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Let us praise the Lord.
– Thanks be to God.
Copyright © 1996-2020 Universalis Publishing Limited: see www.universalis.com. Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible are published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. Text of the Psalms: Copyright © 1963, The Grail (England). Used with permission of A.P. Watt Ltd. All rights reserved.